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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · bass · net · land · kid · charge · mug · pop

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. net — for catching
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. pop — music
  6. charge — electricity
  7. land — a country
  8. bass — the fish
  9. net — after costs
  10. land — ground
  11. charge — in control
  12. bass — low music
  13. land — to come down
  14. pop — to visit
  15. mug — to rob
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. pop — soda
  18. kid — to tease
  19. charge — a price
  20. mug — a face
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mug — a cup
  23. kid — child
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com